Logjam may roil meeting

Some worry delay may derail Station

With the Beacon Hill stalemate over a liquor license in Westwood, the outlook for Tuesday's Town Meeting has turned murky.

Town Meeting will vote on a proposal, negotiated late last month, to create three alcohol licenses for grocery stores. That arrangement was based on the understanding that the state Legislature would approve a license for the Wegmans supermarket planned for the Westwood Station development.

But concerns about potential traffic problems have prompted the state representative from neighboring Canton to hold up that measure. Though the logjam could be broken before Tuesday, there have been few signs of compromise lately, and Westwood officials are struggling to figure out what would happen if voters approve the three licenses before the Legislature acts.

"The truth is, we don't know how this will affect things," said Town Administrator Michael Jaillet. "We will need to explain in detail how [the Town Meeting and legislative debates] are interrelated."

Local officials are also worrying that the prolonged fight could derail the development, if the weak economy doesn't do it first.

The saga began last spring, when state Representative Paul McMurtry of Dedham filed a home-rule petition with the Legislature to grant a beer-and-wine license to New York-based Wegmans, which would anchor the $1.5 billion development on University Avenue.

Because bylaws of Westwood, which was dry until five years ago, don't allow carry-out alcohol licenses, a home-rule petition with the Legislature was required. Although parliamentary rules make it easy for lawmakers to block such petitions, most of them aren't controversial.

The Wegmans proposal, however, met static from Roche Bros. supermarkets, which argued that its store in Westwood would be at a disadvantage if Wegmans received a license.

State Representative Angelo Scaccia, a Hyde Park Democrat, stalled the legislation for months on behalf of Roche Bros., until Westwood agreed to hold a Special Town Meeting to approve three additional beer-and-wine licenses for other grocers.

But once Scaccia's hold was released, Canton lawmaker William Galvin jumped into the fray by blocking action until Westwood Station's developer, Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, agreed to mitigate concerns about traffic overload on Canton's streets.

Since then, McMurty and Galvin, both Democrats, have been blocking action in the State House by using parliamentary maneuvers that force the Legislature, which currently is meeting in informal sessions, to adjourn for the day.

Jay Doherty, president of the development company, has said he can wait until the Legislature formally reconvenes in January, if necessary, "and we'll have a roll-call vote in our favor."

Little state business has been handled since June, causing House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi to turn up the heat on McMurtry and Galvin for a compromise.

Last week, McMurtry said he won't be swayed and plans to block any other bill from getting to Governor Deval Patrick's desk for enactment until the Wegmans issue is resolved.

"I've appealed to [Galvin] and to his selectmen to rethink this and take the hold off the bill in the spirit of cooperation," McMurtry said. "I understand everyone's position, and they have to understand mine. It's not just about Westwood anymore and is in the best interests of keeping the peace on Beacon Hill."

As the state's financial crisis has spiked, Galvin relented slightly on Wednesday, agreeing to put the Wegmans measure aside and act on other bills. He said he wanted to "put state matters first" while still blocking Wegmans until the developer complies with an acceptable infrastructure plan.

Galvin also noted that Patrick and DiMasi see Westwood Station as a regional boon and want the fight to stop. "They are ratcheting up the pressure to get this done," he said. "But I will fight it to the end. They may beat me. But I'm not giving up."

Locally, Roche Bros. president Rick Roche posted a public letter on a Westwood blog urging residents to support the measure Tuesday. He also distanced himself from current disagreements.

"Many residents in town - myself obviously included - felt that the potential of granting a single license was too restrictive, since it would have resulted in unfair competition to Westwood's other grocery stores," he said.

"Now, unfortunately, Rep. Galvin . . . is holding up that same bill. . . . I want to make it known that this is unrelated to the former opposition to this bill . . . I apologize to anyone who may have misunderstood our intentions regarding these efforts this past summer, which were designed only to assure greater fairness to all in Westwood."

Michele Morgan Bolton can be reached at mmbolton1@verizon.net.